


The Good Times

by Sky Falls (Bemused_Writer)



Series: In Memorium Fics [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-13
Updated: 2007-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23608612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bemused_Writer/pseuds/Sky%20Falls
Summary: A look at the good times Fred and George had before things were changed forever.
Relationships: Fred Weasley & George Weasley
Series: In Memorium Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1279277
Kudos: 2





	The Good Times

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I was surprised to rediscover this one! I've had a tough time finding my old fics, but I found this one while I was looking through my old journals, fully handwritten out. It wasn't the final version of the story, that would have been on FF.Net before I removed it, but I didn't change much, so this is basically exactly as it would have appeared in 2007.
> 
> Anyway, I read _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ within a day the very day it came out and I had a tough time coping with some of the revelations, hence this story. ^^" --April 2020

“Dang! They really weren’t kidding when they said Hogwards was huge!” Fred exclaimed merrily,looking out the Express’s window.

George nodded in agreement. “It’ll be the perfect place for some pranks, really hard to catch someone in a place like that after all.”

The twins both gazed out the window, full to the brim with excitement, Hogwarts looming ahead, shrouded in mystery and—according to them--their name all over it.

The compartment door slid open, identical faces turned in surprise. Standing at the entrance was a boy who would soon be one of their best buddies: Lee Jordon.

“Oh, must have opened the wrong door, blasted train’s too big, can’t find anything,” he grumbled good-naturedly.

“Yeah, what’s your name? I’m Fred and this is my brother, George.”

“What are you talking about? _I’m_ Fred and _you’re_ George! Sheesh, get your facts straight.”

“Don’t be a bloke, I’m obviously—“

“Whoah, hold on you two, I can hardly keep up! For starters, I’m Lee Jordon, this is my first year at Hogwarts. My goal in life is to become a comedian,” he patted himself on the chest proudly.

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, George said, “That’s brilliant! Oh, and I’m actually George, for real this time.”

“Ha! Told you so,” Fred smirked gleefully.

“Why don’t you sit here with us?” they said in unison. Whipping their faces around they glared at each other. Almost immediately they began to bicker.

Lee roared until he nearly fell to the ground from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

“Man, I like you two. Maybe I’ll stick around, who knows? Maybe we’ll be in the same House.”

That’s how they had met Lee Jordon, a valuable asset in the art of pranking.

Their first year was spent running from Filch, running from Snape, running from Peeves, heck, they even had to run from Hagrid! To them though it couldn’t have been better—they learned tons, too. One was that Dumbledor was raving mad. Not like Filch, nah, ol’ Dumbledor was the kind of mad that always inspired them to keep at it; despite what “it” may be. Another was that Mrs. Norris and broomsticks didn’t mix. Fred insisted that it had been the best idea they’d ever had. George had hit him with a sponge, tired of polishing all those blasted trophies in the Trophy Room.

Their second year was even better. That was the year they met Harry Potter. In truth, he was nothing like they imagined him to be.

“I always thought Harry Potter would be the strong, heroic type. If you ask me, he looks more like the running type,” George thought aloud, stuffing his mouth full of chocolate frogs.

“Who cares? This way he won’t be taking all the girls, though I have to say, he seems pretty interesting,” Fred remarked languidly as he peeked at the compartment farther away from theirs.

“Wonder if he takes kindly to jokes?” George snickered softly.

As the year progressed they managed to get into even more trouble than last. They also grew to respect Harry immensely. In the Express they hadn’t been sure—famous people tended to be a little off—but after he joined the Quidditch team they knew; this was the kind of guy that liked a good joke, enjoyed everyday hangin’, and most of all, didn’t have any annoying traits famous people have.

“I approve. Wood, though, looked as though he were ready to marry the guy! Who knew he wanted the Quidditch Cup that badly?” Fred chuckled to himself as he rested in a large, comfy chair in the Gryffindor Common Room. Opposite him sat George; they were the only people still there. Everyone else had gone to sleep.

“Gee, it’s not as if he were talking about it every minute of every day or anything Wood would _never_ do that! The nerve to even insinuate such a thing!” George cried, pretending to faint.

Snickering softly, Fred stood up. “Hey, you want to go get a snack? I’m feeling pretty hungry myself.”

George nodded and headed after him.

Their second year truly had been something. The end of it was like a fiesta. Gryffindor had won everything (beat Slytherin by a long shot!) and Harry had quite a story to tell. Fred and George couldn’t remember having more fun. The food was heavenly, too.

Their third year was probably their favorite. Forget all the rest, this was like the cherry on the ice cream cone, or the thrill of escaping detention at last.

This was the year they found the Marauder’s Map. By this point, they knew Hogwarts fairly well and would sneak around almost every night.

On this night in particular they were feeling unusually mischievous and were even more daring than usual.

Passing Filch’s office as quietly as they could, they continued on up to the next floor.

“Careful, there’s a trapdoor there, remember?” George hissed as Fred’s foot came dangerously close to a false step. Dodging awkwardly, he nearly fell down the stairs. Correction, he _did_ fall down the stairs right into George out let out a loud _oof._

Needless to say, it was a racket of a departure, one that would cost them if they didn’t hurry.

Landing at the bottom in a heap, limbs all over the place, they groaned.

“What was that?! You two are in for it now!”

Filch. Of all the … Why’d it have to be right next to his office?

Untangling themselves hurriedly they attempted to dash down the corridor only to be blocked by Peeves.

“Oh, for the love of…!” Fred exclaimed.

“Don’t tell me the two of you are working together now?!” George practically shrieked.

Waving a finger mockingly, Peeves chanted:

_Shan’t tell you a thing,_

_Little onesies_

_Get you I shall_

_Trouble, trouble, trouble!_

Certainly it wasn’t one of his greatest, but it got the point across. Filch approached them from behind.

“I think it’s time you came into my office, boys,” he whispered dangerously, eyes alight with barely controlled fury.

Fred attempted a smile, “Fancy seeing you here, Professor! I never would have guessed—“

“—you would be, considering the time and all,” George finished.

“MARCH!” Filch spat. Mrs. Norris let out a soft purr.

Stomping to their imminent doom, they sat in the moldy seats, waiting for their executioner to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long.

“So you two are back are you? Isn’t that delightful,” he muttered scathingly, pulling their drawer open forcefully. The twins were pleased to not it was the biggest.

“A real treat,” George began.

“Are we going to be getting any cupcakes?” Fred finished amusedly.

Blatantly ignoring them, Filch frowned.

“Out of detention forms? Well, then… You two!” He pointed a finger at them. “Don’t you dare move an inch! I’ll be back in a moment. Leave and I’ll make sure you’re hanged!”

With that he slammed the door shut and locked it. They could hear his savage muttering as he left.

“Such a pleasant fellow really,” Fred put in to fill the silence.

“Yeah, swellest guy I’ve ever met, that’s for sure.”

Bored, they waited impatiently. Filch was taking longer than they’d thought he would.

“Let’s just look around while he’s gone. It’s not like we’ve anything else to do.”

George nodded. Why not? He doubted they could get in much more trouble.

_(If only we could go back there, huh?)_

So they spent a good portion of their time going over other peoples’ wrongdoings while gloating how they were still the best. That is until they found one drawer that put an end to that. Four names were labeled on it: Lupin, Black, Pettigrew, and Potter. Not only that, but it was twice as big as their own drawer.

“Wow, these guys must have been something! Look at all this!”

George shuffled through the sheets of paper, until he finally came upon a blank one.

“What’s that? Why’s there a blank sheet of paper?”

George responded, “I dunno, but it’s the oldest piece of paper I’ve seen.”

They studied it for a time, George kneeling and Fred leaning over his shoulders slightly.

Finally, Fred snatched it from his twin’s hand.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“Why don’t we keep this? Maybe it’ll come in handy.”

Gazing at him dubiously he shrugged.

“Whatever you say, Fred.”

_(I’d always go with what you said.)_

Stuffing it into the pocket of his robes, he sat back down. They continued to wait for Filch.

When he finally came back, they were given their detention slips and shooed out of the room.

“I swear we’re up to no good!” Fred yelled behind him. They both proceeded to run as fast as they could.

Stopping at the portrait of the Fat Lady they panted, trying to catch their breath.

“Hey, do you still have it?”

“Oh, yeah, see?” Unrolling the paper, Fred gasped.

“George, you’ve got to see this,” he breathed.

Curiosity piqued, he glanced at it. What he saw nearly caused him to do a double take.

“It’s Hogwarts! It’s showing everything! Even… is that a secret passageway?”

Both twins were rawed, never before had they seen something like this.

“But how? Last I saw there wasn’t anything special about it.”

“I think it’s what you said when you yelled at Filch,” George answered thoughtfully.

For the first time they were grateful to Filch. It would also be the last time.

The next couple of years flew by quickly _(funny how that happens),_ the Yule Ball nothing more than an elegant memory that served as a constant dispute over who had a better date. They also handed the Marauder’s Map over to Harry. They agreed he would need it more anyway, though it was still a bit of a loss.

Their last year was similar to their third, only on a much larger scale. Umbridge never knew what hit her after Fred and George were done with her. The satisfaction of getting revenge on her could never be described. It didn’t need to be, everyone already understood.

Everyone’s years of glory have to end at some point though, even theirs. Fred doubted anyone would ever live up to their pranking expectations. George doubted they would even have the chance. They were at Hogwarts in one of those times that only come once. Harry’s adventures could never be duplicated and neither could their genius.

“They’d have to be mad to even try!” Fred would say.

Still, sometimes it was hard to remember all that when your heart felt like lead.

A small lilac was gently placed at the foot of the stone. A pale hand let go of it reluctantly. It never got any easier. He wished it would though, someday, in the far future.

It was a bright day, similar to when they first boarded Hogwarts Expresss. He would never forget that; it was when the wheel of time really started working.

“Yeah, we had some crazy days, you know. I doubt old Filch has forgotten us; he always was a grudge-holding git.”

George smiled as he looked down at the grave, crystalline tears pouring down over his cheeks.

“You know, no matter what anyone says, those were the best times of my life. Those were the good times Fred, those were the good times.”

Wit hthat he turned, walking slowly down the column toward the rickety gate. Turning back one last time, as though to say something, he shook his head and exited. He’d be back next April Fool’s after all.

_George! Hurry up or Peeves will catch us!”_

Their laugher rang throughout the halls.

**Author's Note:**

> You can see more of my stuff/say hi on [Dreamwidth](https://bemused-writer.dreamwidth.org/) and [Tumblr](https://bemused-writer.tumblr.com/). (^^)


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